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Is Franklin Balanced A (FBLAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Franklin Balanced A (FBLAX - Free Report) . FBLAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Franklin Templeton is based in San Mateo, CA, and is the manager of FBLAX. Since Franklin Balanced A made its debut in August of 2006, FBLAX has garnered more than $3.38 billion in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 7.08%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 8.28%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. The standard deviation of FBLAX over the past three years is 10.46% compared to the category average of 14.42%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 9% compared to the category average of 12.86%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.51, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. FBLAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.32, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FBLAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 0.86%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FBLAX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Franklin Balanced A ( FBLAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on FBLAXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is Franklin Balanced A (FBLAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Franklin Balanced A (FBLAX - Free Report) . FBLAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Franklin Templeton is based in San Mateo, CA, and is the manager of FBLAX. Since Franklin Balanced A made its debut in August of 2006, FBLAX has garnered more than $3.38 billion in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 7.08%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 8.28%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. The standard deviation of FBLAX over the past three years is 10.46% compared to the category average of 14.42%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 9% compared to the category average of 12.86%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.51, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. FBLAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.32, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FBLAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 0.86%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FBLAX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Franklin Balanced A ( FBLAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on FBLAXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.